September 15, 2010

Looks like hip-hop star Lil Wayne is even more of a VIP at the Riker’s Island jail complex than we previously knew. Department of Corrections officials appear to be bending backwards for him, sources tell the Voice.

We’re told that when guests visit Lil Wayne — whose real name is Dwayne Carter — they bypass the general visiting room where other inmates’ visitors wait. Wayne’s visitors are picked up by an official in a separate car, who drives them to the Eric M. Taylor Center, where he is serving an eight-month jail term in New York after admitting in October 2009 to having a loaded, .40-caliber semiautomatic weapon on his tour bus. Lil Wayne’s guests are driven back after the visit is up — which is usually longer than the one hour allowed for other inmates’ visitors.

Jail staffers also bring Lil Wayne food from the nearby Jackson Hole restaurant and local pizzeria, says our source. They are also said to tip him off so he knows when he is going to be searched.

Lil Wayne is causing a big stir at Rikers — even more than typical celebrity inmates, sources say. Last week, a female Department of Corrections captain allegedly barricaded herself in a locker room, demanding to see the hip-hop artist. In May, the rapper was busted for having headphones, a charger and a watch that doubles as an MP3 player in his jail cell.

Corrections spokesman Stephen Morello says that Lil Wayne has not been found with any more contraband since the May incident, and that he has no comment about an investigation into preferential treatment and favors for Lil Wayne.